Top positive review

Well, when you pick up a Clarkson book, you know what to expect: quick wit, outspoken opinion and an altogether good read.

As well as being something of a TV personality, Clarkson made his name by thinking about a new way of writing about cars, rather than just the usual complaints or praises about a new car's handling and speed.

In this book, you get to see why he has made a name for himself in some of his funniest and most well written articles.

With some, you can tell that he was pushed for ideas, but in the vast majority of articles he makes you chuckle, ending with a strong and meaningful conclusion and quite often starting off with a completely different topic.

All things considered, this book is a condensed view of Clarkson's opinion on all different cars, ranging from Aston Martins to Ferraris, as well as his opinion on everything else.

Top critical review

I generally like Top Gear and I don't even get flustered by Clarkson's deliberate audience baiting, but even so, I really didn't like this.

For starters, the sample is very short, consisting of only about 2.5 articles reprinted from newspapers from about 20yrs+ ago. I found 3 very blatant spelling typos in those few pages and there was no cover. The title is "On Cars", but the first article was all about diaries and why JC can't use a Psion Organiser. The second article was just claptrap about the Golf GTI and handing imaginary crowns to various other cars. Nothing funny, nothing interesting, nothing profound. My feeling at the end of it all was "what a waste of time that was", but I suppose at £6 a pop, the publishers are quite happy to waste your time. Possibly the worst of all the Top Gear-related books I've read. 2/5

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Well, when you pick up a Clarkson book, you know what to expect: quick wit, outspoken opinion and an altogether good read.

As well as being something of a TV personality, Clarkson made his name by thinking about a new way of writing about cars, rather than just the usual complaints or praises about a new car's handling and speed.

In this book, you get to see why he has made a name for himself in some of his funniest and most well written articles.

With some, you can tell that he was pushed for ideas, but in the vast majority of articles he makes you chuckle, ending with a strong and meaningful conclusion and quite often starting off with a completely different topic.

All things considered, this book is a condensed view of Clarkson's opinion on all different cars, ranging from Aston Martins to Ferraris, as well as his opinion on everything else.

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I generally like Top Gear and I don't even get flustered by Clarkson's deliberate audience baiting, but even so, I really didn't like this.

For starters, the sample is very short, consisting of only about 2.5 articles reprinted from newspapers from about 20yrs+ ago. I found 3 very blatant spelling typos in those few pages and there was no cover. The title is "On Cars", but the first article was all about diaries and why JC can't use a Psion Organiser. The second article was just claptrap about the Golf GTI and handing imaginary crowns to various other cars. Nothing funny, nothing interesting, nothing profound. My feeling at the end of it all was "what a waste of time that was", but I suppose at £6 a pop, the publishers are quite happy to waste your time. Possibly the worst of all the Top Gear-related books I've read. 2/5

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this book is made up of the best of Clarksons articles stretching right back to the eighties and even then he had the same wit and manner as now.my only criticism is that he doesent focus his writings on cars as much as id like but apart from that its great reading material.the book has 358 pages and contains articles from performance car and top gear magazine.

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This book is in my opnion great. It's basucally a compilation of classic Clarkson articles starting in the mid-80s and through the 90s. I think it's great reading articles from when he was a beginner in motoring journalism. It's a compulsive page-turner and it's as funny as Clarkson can be. His particular sense of humour is refected through the articles about motorworld that criticise everything, from Vauxhall drivers to vans. Strongly recommended.

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Was half way through this book when a mate pointed out to me how frightfully lazy Clarkson was in his writing having only written one proper book. I would have liked to dispute this but, given how this book is basically Clarkson newspaper columns, without dates or any re-editing, I was inclined to agree.

Of course, there are some genuinely amusing pieces in this collection. However, though there are some diamonds amongst the dirt, the majority of these articles are about old cars and is tediously glib yet unmemorable.

Like all newspaper articles, one ends up feeling it is merely 'eye candy', which briefly entertains but then leaves no feeling of time well spent.

Stick to the TV shows he has done, for this book is like so many low grade magazine articles; journalistic trash!

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I was really disappointed with this book. The main reason is that these columns are set in the mid 80's / early 90's. It's not up to date and you really need to put yourself back to the timeframe in the UK. Because I'm not born here and not that old, I often don't see the fun of the columns here. I started reading this book a couple of months ago, but I'm still not half way.

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On Cars is spilt into 2 parts and to be honest the first part is dull and outdated; the second part is an improvement. There were some funny moments throughout the book, but all in all it's forgettable. This book was no doubt interesting some years ago.

Wouldn't recommend this book if you're more interested in the comedy side of Clarkson. Having read The World According to Clarkson, I would recommend that as a more interesting and more up to date read.

If your interested in cars and you're more knowledgeable about older cars then I am, then this may be a book for you.